Another mandatory song for India is fine

India, we are regularly reminded, is a country whose time has come. It's also fortunate to have a good deal of time on its hands. That should explain the latest bureaucratic enthusiasm of GoI adding the singing of the national song to that of the national anthem at official events - with all six verses of the former this time around. There is now no reason for some to continue to fret that the abridged version of Vande Mataram is a dilution of patriotic feeling. Either way, nations thrive on ritual, and India has always been partial to ceremony, if not always to material heft. India can afford to enthuse itself further through a song when other more tangible forms of confidence-boosting may have fallen short.

The home ministry order also 'suggests' that schools make 'adequate provisions in their programmes' to popularise the song. Nudging, as behavioural economists remind us, is the elixir of modern governance. Critics will mutter about wasted time and digressionary tactics. Yet, what is nation-building if not also taking time to literally sing together, transcending class, caste and, indeed, language, considering that the Sanksritised Bengali in which Vande Mataram is written is unfamiliar to almost every Indian, Bengalis included. In fact, the lines earlier thought to be contentious and 'desecularising' - such as 'Tvam hi Durga dasapraharanadharini/ Kamala kamala-dalaviharini' - should hardly be problematic for those whose Sanskrit has grown rusty over time. It's the 'feeling' that counts, for both singers and arbiters of patriotism.

In fact, states should also add their own songs to rustle up the same kind of pride at the state level. A nation that sings together - the longer the better - may yet learn to govern together.